Connection for electric cars.



J. V. DOYLE.

CONNECTION FOR ELEGTRIG CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6, 1910.

971,363. Patented Sept. 27,1910.

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J. V. DOYLE. CONNECTION FOR ELECTRIC CARS. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6, 1910.

971,363. Patented Sept 27, 1910.

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APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8, 1910. 971,363, Patented Sept 27,1910.

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INVENTOR ATTORNE Y8 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH VINCENT DOYLE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CONNECTION FOR ELECTRIC CARS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrri VINCENT DOYLE, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Connection for Electric Cars,-

of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description.

This invention relates to an improvement in electric railway cars, and particularly to a new and improved method of connecting the truck lead wires for the motor on the truck to the lead wires on the body of the car.

On railway cars in actual use, it is usually the custom to clasp long leads together by check-valve connections, which are insulated by rubber tubing and taped together at one or both ends. The leads are then held by wooden cleats bolted to the bottom of the car. ith this structure, before the car can be jacked up for repairs, the connections of the lead wires from the motor to the car body have to be disconnected. This requires the continued efforts of three men for about an hour.

An object, therefore, of my invention is to provide a flexible connection between the car body and the motor on the car truck, which will allow for all motion of the truck relative to the car body, and will also be automatically disconnected when the body of the car is jacked up, without the necessity of laborious manual manipulation.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device which will be simple in construction, readily accessible, easily re-fitted, inexpensive to manufacture, and which will adjust itself to all relative motions.

These and further objects, together with the construction and combination of parts, will be more fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of ref erence indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure l is a view in elevation, partly in section to show the underlying structure; Fig. 2 is a view in elevation, partly in section, taken at right-angles to the view illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the lower insulating plate; Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the upper insulating plate,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 6, 1910.

Patented Sept. 27, 1910. Serial No. 536,597.

showing some of the contact members in position; and Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views of two contact members which come in from opposite sides of the insulating plates, and illustrating their curved form.

Referring more particularly to the separate parts of the device, 1 indicates the mo tor 011 the truck of the car. Extending upwardly from the motor 1 and secured thereto in any well known manner, there are provided a plurality of brackets 2, which form the support of an insulating plate 3, made of any suitable material, such as fiber, and which is secured to the brackets 2 by any suitable means, such as bolts 4.

The insulating plate 8 is provided with a plurality of recesses 6 and 7, which extend inwardly in series from the opposite sides of the plate, and are in the form of cylindrical cavities at their outer ends, and of angular cavities at their inner ends. They are also arcuate in form, for a purpose to be described hereinafter. The recesses 6 and 7 form suitable seats for a plurality of contact members 8 and 9, which are secured therein by means of suitable screws 10 and 10 countersunk in the contact members. The contact members 8 and 9 are in the form of arcuate shaped bars, each having a cylindrical lug 11 secured on one end. These bars are adapted to fit snugly into the recesses 6 and 7, so that their upper surfaces will lie almost flush with the surface of the plate 3. The lugs 11 are provided with longitudinal cylindrical openings 12, which form sockets for the peeled ends 13 of insulated lead wires 1st and 15, which connect the contact members 7 and 8 with the motor. Superposed on the plate 3, there is provided a similar insulating plate 16, which has similar recesses 18 and 19, in which similar contact bars 20 and 21 are locked and secured to the plate 16 by inset screws 22. The bars 20 and 21 are similar to the bars 9 and 10, and have sockets, into which the peeled ends 28 of insulating lead wires 24 and 25 are inserted. These lead wires .24 and 25 are connected to the floor 26 of the body of the car, and lead through suitable connections to a shoe which contacts with the live rail or wire.

In order to adjustably support the plate 16 on the floor 26 of the body of the car, there is provided a plurality of rods 27 which have a screw threaded connection with openings 28 formed in the corners of I the plate 16, and which also are provided at their opposite ends with lugs 29 which slide in guide slots 30 formed in hollow cylindrical caps 32, which are secured to supports 31 by means of screws 83. The upward motion of the rods 27 is limited by the tops of the supports 31. The downward movement of the rods 27 is limited by the bottom of the slots 30 formed in the tubular caps 32.

In order to yieldingly hold the contact members 20 and 21 in intimate contact with the contact members 8 and 9, there are provided springs 34, which are threaded onto each of the rods 27 and abut against the top side of the plate 16 through intermediate washers 35, and also abut against the under side of the caps 32. As has been previously described, the contact members 8, 9, 20 and 21 are arcuate in form. The purpose of this is to always keep the uxtaposed contact members in intimate contact, irrespective of their relative position due to the movement of the car truck and motor relative to the body of the car.

It will thus be seen that there is formed an adjustable flexible connection between the truck and the body of the car, which permits a positive electrical connection of the power to the motor, yet permits the body of the car to be jacked up from the truck without any previous laborious manipulation of the contact members or leads thereto. The fact that the contact members proper are arcuate in form will permit a reasonable amount of movement of the car body relative to the truck, as in going around curves. The upper contact members are always held in positive engagement with the lower contact members by means of the springs 34, and yet are limited in their downward movement, as when the car body is subjected to extraordinary upper movement, as in being jacked up, by means of the lugs 29 which engage the bottom of the slots 30.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In an electric car, the combination with a body, of a truck, a motor on said truck, and an electric connection between said body and said motor comprising abut-ting members movable relative to each other at their abut-ting points to allow for the relative movement of said body and said truck.

2. In an electric car, the combination with a body, of a truck, a motor on said truck, and mechanically-detached conducting members on said body and said motor, normally contacting with each other.

3. In an electric car, the combination with a body, of a truck, a motor on said truck, contact members connected to said motor and said body, and means for yieldingly holding said contact members in engagement.

4. In an electric car, the combination with a body, of a truck, a motor on said truck, an insulating plate connected to said motor, an insulating plate connected to said body, contact members in said plates, juxtaposed to each other and adapted to transmit an electric current from said body to said motor, and means for normally holding said contact members in engagement.

5. In an electric car, the combination with a body, of a truck, a motor on said truck, an insulating plate adjustably connected to said body, an insulating plate connected to said motor, contact members in said secondmentioned plate adapted to contact wit-h the contact members in said first-mentioned insulating plate, and spring means adapted to force said first-mentioned plate toward said second-mentioned plate.

6. In an electric car, the combination with a body, of a truck, a motor on said truck, arcuate contact members connected to said body, and arcuate contact members connected to said motor and adapted to engage with said first-mentioned contact members.

7. In an electric car, the combination with a body, of a truck, a motor connected to said truck, an insulating plate connected to said motor, a plurality of arcuate contact members embedded in said plate, an insulating plate connected to said body, a plurality of arcuate contact members embedded in said second-mentioned plate and adapted to engage said first-mentioned contact members, and means for connecting said firstmentioned contact members with said motor.

8. In an electric car, the combination with a body, of a truck, a motor on said truck, lead wires on said truck connected to said motor, lead wires connected to said body, and mechanically-detached electrical connections between said lead wires on said truck and said lead wires on said body, normally in electrical contact and adapted to permit a relative motion of said truck and said body.

9. In an electric car, the combination with a body, of a truck, a motor on said truck, an insulating plate connected to said motor, a plurality of contact members embedded in said insulating plate, lead wires connecting said motor with said contact members, an insulating plate facing said first-mentioned plate, a plurality of contact members embedded in said second-mentioned plate, lead wires connecting said contact members with said body, sliding connections between said body and said second-mentioned plate, and a plurality of springs adapted to normally force said second-mentioned contact members into engagement with said firstmentioned contact members.

10. In an electric car, the combination with a body, of a truck, conducting members on said body, and conducting members on said truck, said conducting members contacting in a single plane.

11. In an electric car the combination with a body, of a truck, and relatively movable conducting members on said body and said truck, said conducting members 0011- tacting in a horizontal plane.

12. In an electric car, the combination with a body, of a truck, conducting members on said body conducting members on said truck, means for maintaining said conducting members on said truck in engagement with said conducting members on said body for a limited vertical movement of said body, and means for preventing an abnormal vertical movement of said conducting members on said truck.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH VINCENT DOYLE. lVitnesses JOHN J. DOYLE, BERNARD A. STEVENS. 

